When NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon staged a prank for a Pepsi Max ad last year, it went viral, but some questioned its authenticity. Travis Okulski’s review at Jalopnik stood out among the critics with its “FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE” banner image. Well, that was last year. When the buzz died down somewhat, Gordon and Pepsi came up with a followup prank on Okulski to prove that such pranks can be pulled off. The results are frightening on the one side (because you can imagine finding yourself in this situation), but hilarious to those of us who are in on the stunt. Okulski wrote about the experience:

What was I planning on accomplishing? Not dying? Taking him down with me? Strangling him? I don't know. I just had to do something.

What I do know is that I was incredibly polite to the man with my life in his hands. I always called him "sir" and said "please" a lot. I guess I did that because if you show someone respect, maybe they won't shoot you in the face later that day when you're tied up in his meth lab and he's planning on how to get rid of all the evidence.

The first half of the video is exposition; you can skip to the action at about 2:30 if you prefer. I don’t really care whether this is fake or staged; it’s entertaining! I think they may have at least edited out the part where Okulski changed his pants before appearing to emerge from the vehicle at the end. And it turns out that Jalopnik not only went along with the prank, but even paid for Okulski’s airfare to Charlotte. -via Daily of the Day